Austin EMDR and Trauma Therapy

Healing Trauma & Restoring Emotional Well-being

At AFC, we specialize in helping clients heal from trauma. Emotional and psychological trauma may be caused by a one-time event such as sustaining an injury in combat, a car accident, or natural disaster, but trauma also can arise from ongoing stressful situations, such as growing up in an abusive household, enduring bullying, or suffering with a long-term illness. If you’ve experienced trauma, whether recent or from your childhood, you may currently be struggling with a variety of symptoms, ranging from distressing emotions, fearful memories or flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, feelings of powerlessness and/or worthlessness, an avoidance of anything that reminds you of the trauma, or an inability to form close relationships.

How EMDR Facilitates the Mind’s Recovery from Trauma

One of the most powerful and well-researched therapies used to treat trauma and its lasting effects is known as EMDR – Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It is widely assumed that severe emotional pain requires a long time to heal. EMDR therapy shows that the mind can in fact heal from psychological and emotional trauma much as the body recovers from physical trauma. When you cut your hand, your body works to close the wound. If a foreign object or repeated injury irritates the wound, it festers and causes pain. Once the block is removed, healing resumes. EMDR therapy demonstrates that a similar sequence of events occurs with mental processes. The brain’s information processing system naturally moves toward mental health. If the system is blocked or imbalanced by the impact of a disturbing event, the emotional wound festers and can causes intense suffering. Once the block is removed, healing resumes. Using the detailed protocols and procedures learned in EMDR training sessions, clinicians help clients activate their natural healing processes. Repeated studies show that by using EMDR people can experience the benefits of psychotherapy that once took years to make a difference.**

If you believe you can benefit from this therapy, or if you have questions, please contact our offices and we will set you up with one of our EMDR trained therapists to determine if this is the best course of treatment for you.

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